


Dancing with a Stranger

by dreamnite



Series: sunny side up [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic, Drunken Shenanigans, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Romance, damn this hurt me right here in my meow meow, misleading stuff but everything is a-ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:54:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25138807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamnite/pseuds/dreamnite
Summary: This is one mistake Jeno will never regret.
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Series: sunny side up [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817974
Comments: 9
Kudos: 87





	Dancing with a Stranger

**Author's Note:**

> [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3yjxuetlfBSWgobFWf3zeS?si=XvtvjRdlSh2S2zI6gzXczg)

Jeno cracks open his eyes to a familiar ceiling and the calming smell of the lavender air-freshener Jaemin picked out the week before. His pounding headache from his hangover serves as a reminder of the bad life decisions he made the night before.

☾

"You could probably just finish this tomorrow. Knowing you, you'll end up finishing it in less than an hour." Jeno said as he searched under the couch for his missing left sock. Dust bunnies, Jeno's lost homework from a few weeks ago, and sad stale crumbs of what looks like toast stared back at him. 

Huh, so that's where his paper went. It was quite literally under his nose this entire time. Who knew looking under the couch could've saved him 30 minutes of panicking and 4 hours of extra work.

But his other sock was still nowhere in sight. Jeno's going to have to live with mismatched socks. Hopefully, no one will notice. He grabbed one of the socks from the box Donghyuck labeled ‘forever-single ):’ in permanent marker. 

Heaving a defeated sigh, Jeno added, "Also, Mark's gonna be sad you didn't show up to his first party of the year."

Jaemin grunts in response, typing furiously on his poor, battered keyboard. His coffee mug rattled from where it sat on the desk, contents sloshing dangerously close to the rim. Jeno felt scared for Jaemin’s computer.

"I'm going to get going.” Jeno's sneakers squeaked in protest when he jammed his feet into them with less finesse than he'd liked. “Are you sure you don't want to come?"

Another grunt. More frustrated clickety-clacks with some mouse clicks in-between.

Jeno smiled sadly at Jaemin's hunched figure over his desk and cracked open the front door, letting the chilly spring air creep into the cozy room. "See you later then. Don’t drink too much coffee. Left some food on the table if you get hungry!"

Even though the weather's been warming up recently, it was still cold during the nights. Jeno's breathes came out in little white puffs, dissolving into the darkness of the late-February air. The walk down the stairs could've gone faster, but Jeno dragged his feet. A small hope in his chest whispered that maybe, just maybe, Jaemin would change his mind and pop his head out their door to tell Jeno to wait up. But the minute his foot hit the cold, grainy pavement of the road, he let the disappointment sink in.

Jeno's been stressing over telling Jaemin just how much the latter means to him. Everything that led them to their current relationship—first meeting at orientation, being in the same class, having similar schedules, and moving in together—happened through a series of coincidences. And with how busy Jaemin has been recently, Jeno never really got the chance to really tell Jaemin how he feels. Rehearsed confessions in front of a huge audience felt too fake. Getting on his knee and proposing was too serious.

Jeno tried inviting Jaemin out on dates. But whether it's an invite to a nice dinner date or just to hangout together, Jaemin always turned him down with a sad look in his eyes. "I'm sorry. I gotta run, but I'll make it up to you." The timing was never right.

It's okay. It's okay, Jeno. 

Maybe next time.

  


In the fall, Jeno’s and Jaemin's schedules matched perfectly.

Blessed with all late afternoon classes, Donghyuck swore to never wake up before 2 in the afternoon. And with Mark busy as usual and Renjun doing god knows what, Jeno ended up spending a lot of time with Jaemin. The then cotton-candy pink haired computer-science major was never a morning person, but as luck would have it he got placed into the earliest class possible. Luckily, Jeno was also in the same class, so every morning without fail he'd walk to Jaemin’s place and wake him up to eat breakfast together before walking to class with promises of lunch afterwards. It was nice having someone to eat with on a daily basis. When Jeno got kicked out of his old place (something about the building failing safety protocols and getting demolished), Jaemin even offered Jeno to move in with him.

"You're here every morning to wake me up anyways. This way you don't have to walk 15 minutes to get here everyday." Jaemin reasoned with a giddy laugh. "Pleased to live with you, roomie."

They spent even more time together after that.

Unfortunately, this semester Jaemin's schedule matched Jeno's even less than the socks on Jeno's feet. The former had even picked up more extracurriculars this semester: a new part-time job at the cafe down the street and a promotion to Editor-in-Chief of the photography club. Even though they were roommates, Jeno saw little of Jaemin throughout the day. Occasionally, he'd be blessed with a rare glimpse of Jaemin chugging coffee straight from their coffee pot at their kitchen table in the mornings or at ungodly hours of the night (now accompanied by lines of error-ridden code). It's been difficult adjusting to Jaemin-less days.

Jeno was hoping to help Jaemin unwind tonight at Mark's. And mostly, Jeno simply wanted to talk to Jaemin. But everyone knows how Jaemin gets whenever there is a coding assignment due over the weekend. It was almost a ritual, a rite of passage. The blue haired comp-sci major would sit unmoving at his desk for hours on end. It gets to the point where Jaemin completely forgets to eat and do humanly functions until he gets his code finished and error-free. 

Jeno learned about this the hard way a  few weeks after he first moved in with Jaemin during the fall semester. To say Jeno was surprised when he found Jaemin collapsed next to his chair, pale and lifeless would be an understatement. Jeno swears to this day that he had never dialed 911 as fast as he had then. An ambulance ride to the emergency room and several IVs later, the doctor reassured a very panicked Jeno that his friend was simply asleep but later gave him an earful about how exhausted, malnourished, and dehydrated Jaemin was. Ever since then, Jaemin has gotten better at taking care of himself. Well. At least, better than before.

And Jeno always kept an eye out for his roommate-turned-boyfriend and made sure this incident won't repeat itself.

  


The walk to Mark's place felt lonelier than he remembered without Jaemin there by his side. Not even a minute after he reached the front door Donghyuck swung the door open with more force than necessary, almost hitting Jeno smack-dab in the face. Mark stood behind Donghyuck, looking more stressed and concerned than usual and saying something that got drowned out by the booming party music. Eyes glassy with alcohol, Donghyuck leaned partly on the door-frame, mostly on Mark.

“What took you so long, No Jam. What kinda stuff,” Donghyuck wiggled his eyebrows. “Held you guys up-” 

The expression on Jeno's face made Donghyuck snap his mouth shut and sober up immediately. The loose, relaxed smile slipped off Donghyuck's face, replaced with a look of concern.

“Sorry.” Jeno trained his eyes on his old dusty sneakers, trying to keep his thoughts from spinning into an endless mantra of Jaemin, Jaemin, Jaemin. He should probably get new shoes soon. But these were the ones that Jaemin picked for him- stop. Jeno, stop. 

Donghyuck frowned and grabbed Jeno’s wrist, dragging him into the life of the party. The two weaved around the crowds and headed towards the kitchen. 

"You look like you need a drink." Donghyuck said, shoving a weird concoction of what smelled like Red Bull, cherry Coke, and Vodka into Jeno's hands. "Then let's talk."

Downing two more Donghyuck-signature drinks into his system flushed all feelings of disappointment and loneliness from his alcohol-muddled brain. Jeno's not sure if they got much talking done in the end. From there, his memories were a blur mess of flashing lights, dancing bodies, and more shots. At some point, Jeno slumped over to the kitchen where Renjun was mixing a new round of drinks. Donghyuck had disappeared somewhere and Mark was too busy taking care of the mess in the living room. And Jaemin.

Jaemin's not here.

With no one to stop him and liquid courage running in his veins, Jeno taunted Renjun into agreeing to a one-on-one drinking game. It's the worst drunken decision he's ever made. Jeno knows better than to challenge The Huang Renjun, but inebriated Jeno didn't know any better. One look into Renjun's soulless eyes and Jeno knew he was not coming out of this until one of them hit the floor.

☀

The slight throbbing on the side of his ribs and the pounding headache tells Jeno that, unsurprisingly, he was the one who hit the floor in the end.

Jeno's feeling worse than he has in ages but comfortably warm swaddled in a mountain of blankets Jaemin probably got out for him the night before. He smacks his lips absent-mindedly, mouth dry. He thinks he deserves a pat on the back for somehow escaping Renjun and making it back in one piece. He takes a deep breath, letting the lavender-smell of home drown out the stale taste of alcohol on his tongue.

His shirt sticks uncomfortably to his body and his bangs are matted uncomfortably on his forehead. Jeno is in desperate need of a shower. His brain cells shrivel up a little more from the incessant pain in his head. And painkillers too.

With a groan, Jeno rolls over to his side, unconsciously curling into the warmth of the fleece blanket. The sudden movement causes the mountain of blankets to wiggle around as if it's shifting to find a more comfortable position. Jeno freezes, his eyes growing comically large with dawning horror and escalating panic. Fuck. That wasn't a mountain of blankets. It's a single blanket.

And underneath lies a living, breathing human being.

Still lying on the ground, Jeno slides as fast as he could from the mysterious stranger with an embarrassing loud yelp. His back hits the wall not even a foot away from The Stranger as Jeno's head protests from the sudden movement and loud sound. 

Ok, calm down, Lee Jeno. Stop fucking panicking. Think.

He racks his brain for any clues of what happened the night before. Flashes of a bright smile and a breathtakingly handsome stranger letting Jeno into his apartment. Stumbling steps. Jeno's jacket being tugged off. Tumbling onto the floor in a tangled mess. Whispers of a sweet promise. 

Fuck, Jeno’s mind dumbly supplies again. Oh no. He really fucked up this time. Before Jeno could beat himself up too much, The Stranger groans and unconsciously shuffles closer to Jeno. The fluffy fleece blanket slips down from where it covered The Stranger's head, giving way to impossibly fluffy, dusk-blue hair.

Jaemin.

Jeno barely manages to suppress the urge to scream a second time. It was Jaemin. Confusion replaces the panic from moments before. What was Jaemin doing here? 

The brown-haired boy couldn't remember much of how he got home nor of his roommate other than concerned, worried eyes and a warm voice filled with so much of an emotion Jeno can't place a finger on lulling him to sleep. This close Jeno could see Jaemin's long eyelashes flutter with each breath he took. Jaemin always looked stressed recently, never seen without a 8-shot americano in one hand and dark circles heavy enough to rival those of Donghyuck's, who always has had a bad track record with sleep. But now with his eyebrows relaxed, fluffy blue-hair mussed from sleep, face free of the scowl that's been slowly turning into Jaemin's default expression, the blue-haired looks much younger and at peace.

Jeno smiles, moving to untangle his hand from the blanket to brush away the strands of hair that was falling into Jaemin's eyes. "'Bout time you got some sleep."

Another hand tightens around his own and an arm snakes around his other arm, wrapping him in a giant koala hug and preventing Jeno from moving.

"I don't want to hear that from someone who games until the ass-crack of dawn." Jaemin said, voice thick with sleep.

"Sorry," Jeno looked apologically at Jaemin. "Did I wake you up?"

"Yea, with how loud you screamed. You good, Jen?"

Jeno freezes. He has to tell Jaemin. Jaemin is sweet and caring. He deserves the world. He deserves to know.

"Oh my god, Nana. No, I don't have the right to call you that anymore." Jeno splutters with watery eyes, sounding impossibly heartbroken. "I'm sorry. There was this stranger but I SWEAR, Nana-I mean Jaemin, I swear I told him that I was taken already and that he shouldn't be doing-"

"Jeno."

"-those THINGS like taking off my clothes and letting me in and stuff-"

"Jeno." Jaemin unlocked their hands to cup Jeno's face with a chuckle, forcing the latter to make eye contact with him. "What did this stranger look like?"

Jeno makes a confused noise. "Huh? What do you mean? I  _ betrayed _ you and you're asking- oh. Oh my god. You’re not thinking what I’m thinking-"

"Nooo. That's not-"

"-Please don't tell me you're going to hunt him down. Nana- no, Jaemin. Don't dirty your hands for someone like me. I'll do it myself. Then throw myself off a cliff and-"

"Noooo." Jaemin huffs in frustration. "Just answer the goddamn question."

The brown-haired boy furrows his eyebrows.

"Uh ok. Well. He was really handsome. Not as handsome as you! And um, he had this really pretty smile. Not as pretty as yours either, of course. And big eyes... eyelashes as long as yours... Blue hair, the same shade as yours... and with that same... hoodie..." Jeno lists, slowing down in realization. “Oh.”

“‘Oh’ my ass. Yea, it was me, you lovable dumbass.”

"Oh." Thank  _ god _ . 

But right as relief washes away all the reminder feelings of horror and heartbreak, the embarrassing memories rushed back in roaring torrents. Jeno was unbelievably clingy and embarrassing, bragging about his boyfriend to his  _ boyfriend _ . Pushing away his boyfriend in the name of his  _ boyfriend _ . Rejecting his boyfriend because he thought his  _ boyfriend _ was someone else. 

Oh  _ god _ . Jeno blushes furiously all the way to the tips of his ears. He buries his face into the soft material of Jaemin's white hoodie, trying to hide his blush from view. Jaemin laughs fondly as he intertwines his hand with Jeno's.

Jaemin's phone alarm goes off, blaring  _ Bboom Bboom  _ by Momoland at max volume. The song had barely reached the chorus when Jeno’s head decided it couldn’t take anymore. With one hand reaching out blindly and the other still stuck to Jaemin’s hand, Jeno groans. “Make it stop.”

Jeno buries his head further into Jaemin’s hoodie and Jaemin coos at the cute action. The blue-haired boy decides to be merciful in consideration of Jeno’s headache and cuteness and stops the alarm at the end of the chorus. 

"That was the cue for us to get up. And for you to take your ibuprofen." Jaemin sits up, handing the water bottle and packet of painkillers he set on the table nearby hours before to Jeno. "Clean up and I'll make us some food?"

Jeno pops two pills in his mouth before taking a large swig of water. It feels like all the cells in his body are severely dehydrated. After inhaling almost all of the water in the bottle, Jeno lies back down, tugging Jaemin down with him. "Hmm, not yet. I want to sleep a little longer.”

“Wow. Lee Jeno sleeping in.” Jaemin says. “Sorry, but who are you? I already have a boyfriend.”

“Argh, shut up."

Jaemin gasps and places a hand on his chest in mock offense, struggling and failing to keep the amused smile off his face. " _ Shut up? _ You look a lot like my sweet and caring boyfriend but my boyfriend would  _ never _ tell me to shut up."

"Nana!" Jeno pouts, batting Jaemin's arm in embarrassment.

"Alright. Alright." Jaemin laughs.

"You're not going to let this go, are you."

Rolling onto his back, Jaemin hums thoughtfully. "Nope. Because  this boyfriend always takes care of me better than anyone, that’s also why I love him."

Jeno pauses. Those words sound familiar. Like something that he heard yesterday night. Something that he vaguely remembers coming out of his own mouth.

Eyes wide and mouth gaping like a fish, Jeno jolts up as if he'd been shocked by lightning and winces slightly from his headache. “Huh? Did I...”

"Complement the hell out of me then confess in the dumbest and sweetest, low-key kinda sexy, way possible? If so, then yes."

Sounds like, on top of mistaking Jaemin for someone else, drunk Jeno thought that proclaiming his love for Jaemin in front of Jaemin himself was as good of a time as any. Jeno has never wanted to punch himself as much as he does now.

"Oh." Jeno might have to go see a doctor later; he's blushing so hard the redness is probably permanent. "And you just said that..."

"I love you." Jaemin turns to face Jeno.

The dim light trickling in from the gap between the curtains hits Jaemin perfectly, casting a small halo around his hair. His brown chocolate eyes dance with mirth and that same unknown emotion that Jeno now knows as  _ love _ . Jaemin's lips curls into the softest, fondest smile Jeno’s ever seen.

Jeno wishes he can undo a lot of things that he did last night, but this is something that he wouldn't change for the world.

“I love you too.” 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading :'''')  
> \- inspired by [jaebum's waitin' on you](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25101772) 🐰(which is from jaemin's pov)  
> \- special thanks to [val](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaebums/pseuds/jaebums) for beta and inspiring me to write this  
> \- this is my first time posting my writing lmk what u think!  
> \- i potato
> 
> twitter @ [lostmarkercap](https://twitter.com/lostmarkercap)  
> 


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